


Blue

by purpledice



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, Circus, Disability, Drug Use, Eventual Romance, Explicit Language, Fire, Horror, M/M, Muteness, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Romance, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 12:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6195217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpledice/pseuds/purpledice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're not afraid, are you?" His lips curl into the words, eyes darkening with a hunger Louis had only seen twice before. A slender hand moved towards the corner of his mouth, the delicacy of such an action momentarily betrayed by his harsh tendencies. His harsh nature. It was hell, to love a man who looked at you as if you were nothing more then meat on a string. A puppeteer of young hearts.<br/>So without further delay, and without further thought - he sank back into the shadows once more and pulled apart the curtains separating them from the outside world. "We need to invite the others in for tonight's show. It's nearly ten." And with that he began to walk away, blocking out the strangled screams in the distance.<br/>This circus will be the death of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morphine Beginnings and Morphine Endings

* * *

“And if you look to your left you will see Saturn devouring his son. Of course, one of the most gruesome of Goya’s works, a man shrouded in infamy I must say with disdain. Many speculated his sanity, rather for some he was seen as pure evil - how a father, if you could even say, could predict such horrid imagery! He never titled anything he painted which was quite odd, it’s as though these portraits are self-evident of the lunacy in which he despised mankind. But who’s to know really, a bit of himself could still lie hidden here even today. Yes miss? The restrooms just around the left hallway opposite our Bill Stoneham collection, and that reminds me of the ancient legend that..”  


Louis sighed, trailing alongside the rumpled group of tourists in absolute boredom. It wasn’t that he despised halfheartedly peering at aging pieces of plaster, because yeah - he couldn’t deny that bloody entrails wasn’t cool. But for some unknown reason people felt the need to congregate around and pretend it was the best living thing they’ve ever seen since the Watchmen comics he had stashed beneath his bed.  


Pushing the frayed hair that annoyingly fell in front of eyes he quickly dug out his most prized possession that he managed to sneak in using the apparel of his father's sweatshirt, which was completely unbeknownst to him. Pulling the object out, he marveled at the sleek beauty before him. “Hello Nixon,” he muttered quietly, probably sounding like a freak in the process, but whatever. He had after all slaved away next to the chill of a drive thru window for months to purchase it - even downgrading with the rusty old car he bought all because of what was before him.

Pressing the camera tightly between his thumb and index finger, he snapped a few shots of each portrait they came upon when the oblivious tour guide wasn’t looking. Stan, one of his best friends would totally flip if he saw this - usually him being the one who would engage Louis in obvious mischief.  
  


But that’s all it ever was, mere fun. Nothing was ever meant to go too far he mused as he closed off with a final shot - falling back into the masses with the drone of women’s heels as they clicked against the marble flooring. After all, it was just a little game he played with himself and reality.

xx xx xx

“What the fuck man, what the actual living fuck.”  


It was the night after Louis had gone off and taken those pictures in utmost discrepancy, and to be fair there was a lot of words that could be used to describe the situation he was in now. Idiocy was one, half-assed attempt at trying to maintain a close connection with his only friend could be considered two - but Stan had scrounged up some drugs and well.. he was high, really mega high - and there was no telling what he would do then. Of course it was his idea to inform the male next to him about the day before - and to be fair, all he wanted at the moment was sleep and comics at the same time and that combination made his head all weird.  


“Shuttt upppp, my ears are seriously ringing right now dude and your voice sounds like a goat having sex with a prostitute,” he complained, slouching on the others bed.  
Oh ha ha fuck you.” Stan retorted, “At least this voice can at least get a prostitute unlike this bitch sitting next to me.”  


“The Eiffel Tower cannot fit inside a donut hole,” he slurred, his body shaking with laughter. “Besides, I would totally bang a zombie if I could, or a vampire - just imagine. And they’d puke slime all over me when-”  


“Jesus Christ just listen to me for a few seconds - and as an added thought I am totally signing you up for therapy you fucking freak.” Louis opened his mouth to object when Stan glared at him harshly causing him to stay quiet before an actual murder occurred. “Alright so these pictures, you see these pictures? These are gold Louis, pure gold. And you know what people do with gold?”  


“Murder Gnomes.. or… or Cybermen!”  


“No!” the older lad snapped. “You _sell_ it.” Stan waved the bag of pills in his face tauntingly. “Ah, you get the memo now.” He grinned at Louis triumphantly and tapped his chin in thought.

 A thought sprung up in Louis’ mind ruining the vibes that had previously surrounded them. “Yeah but.. they’re just pictures. I mean even if we do manage to sell them - we would be getting like ten-fifteen bucks tops. Face it Stanly, your plans laaaayymee.” He taunted, getting up and rifling through the others movie collection absentmindedly. “How about Night of the Living Dead?” He held up the disk, “You know it’s my turn to pick the film.”

“Sure sure,” Stan waved his arms absentmindedly. “Let’s assume I was able to sell what you took,” he tried again, not letting go of the topic. “I mean, would that be cool with you? I’d give you fifty percent of what's made.”

“Oh yeah, five dollars what a great deal,” Louis replied sarcastically. “Just keep the money, I’m all good.” Stan flipped him off as Louis propped himself back on the floor. “But seriously, I’m high as fuck and in the need for some serious slow-mo zombies.”

And when he sloshed down another pill halfway during the movie once Stan was fast asleep he couldn’t help but feel good all over for once, because yeah - nothing could go wrong, and even as faces were torn off from their very bones on the screen in front of him, he couldn’t help but forget the underlying uneasiness he had felt merely moments before.

Bad things just couldn’t happen like that when you’re out in the real world.


	2. Desecrated Corpses

_"We lay my love and I, beneath the weeping willow. But now alone I lie, and weep beside the tree. Singing "Oh willow waly" by the tree that weeps with me. Singing "Oh willow waly" till my lover return to me. We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow. A broken heart have I. Oh willow I die, oh willow I die."_

* * *

His face hit the glass window as he was shoved inside forcibly, the hands that had once gripped the back of his shirt now dug feverishly amongst bottomless pockets until the jangle of keys was heard throughout his ears. Louis' ears rang, the harsh cut across his cheek stung and not to mention the sudden swerve of the car nearly had him puking all over the backseat. Life sucked.

He fiddled with the straps of his bags to pass the time, played a little air guitar after an hour or so, and when finally his phone died and he asked to borrow the car charger only did the man at the wheel snap at him. "

One. More. Word." The elder seethed, causing Louis' eyes to narrow harshly. 

"Hmmph," Louis let out as he slumped back into his seat, his eyes glaring at the back of a head for a solid ten minutes. 

Chewing on the inside of his lip, he thought about attempting to pry open the locked handle and propel his body into the outside life... but of course he would merely face his untimely death because he was not, and will never be, the ultimate ninja.

His thoughts were abruptly paused as the pounding rushed in waves across his temple. His skin itched and felt on fire while his throat clogged and eyes watered, his body craving the absence of substance. They haven't given him anything in eight days, and he would know because he reminded himself of it every second. 

As the wheels of the vehicle kept turning, he couldn't help but feel as though he was eternally damned to crawl along the lines, much like a child. Ever since that day, it felt like everything was stripped of him. His friends, his family, his job - well that wasn't that much of a loss as he was eventually going to tell his boss to screw off anyways. But the longer he thought of it, of what he had done - the more he tried to suppress it. 

He pushed his hair behind his ears, the length of it urking him considering it was almost long enough to hit his shoulders. He had meant to cut it, but had wasted his savings on dying his once brown locks into an unruly blue color after Stanley pronounced that he would ask out the entire cheering squad in his honor if he hadn't. The horror.

Stan. He hadn't thought about his friend much, really hadn't done anything this past week other than suffer severe and 'life-altering' withdrawals. He felt guilty, not asking anyone where he was - if he was perhaps going to the same place as him, but he hadn't heard a thing. 

"My friend... the other guy with me, where did he go?" Louis asked, not expecting any form of answer really. The thought had been pressing against his mind, his conscious felt dirty and wrong and he had been doing nothing to cleanse it. Maybe he should buy one of those look-a-like voodoo dolls and douse it in holy water? And then stab a needle straight through the head because he's been such a fucking idiot lately that apparently no brain existed in the first place. 

"Look, kid..." the man sighed, his right hand running exasperatedly across his face, "the only thing I know is where to take you, and how." Kinky. Louis smirked, but didn't interrupt him, finding this to be a more serious topic of discussion. "And before you ask I don't want to hear you go on about where you're headed due to safety precautions and all, that..." the man waved his hands dismissively. Shitface. 

"All I know about is some community service bullshit the state has me on, I mean, can you believe it!" Louis flailed his arms, the strap of the seatbelt digging into his sides. 

"Oh trust me, I can." Louis huffed at the reply he received which was dripping in sarcasm. Whatever, fuck everyone. Especially him. 

Minutes slowly passed, and Louis' willpower slowly started to drain. The rush of confidence he had received previously began to windle out of him, causing the fear and panic to rush in. His mother had cursed him, father had left him and the state had sentenced him. It was all an endless chain of events that led him into the situation he was in now. A series of committed frauds, an unconstitutional felony - he was even considered, "severely underdeveloped." according to the doctor that had been assigned to his case. That he needed, "immediate evacuation," from a climate that could, "do him no good." 

His head started to hurt once more and all he could really think at the moment was getting his hands on something that could numb the pain. Any form of pill and fuck, he would even take up smoking again if it came to that, which it might as well. 

Louis never asked for this kind of life, not really - not ever. He was just caught in that awkward stage of transitioning from middle school to highschool a few years back and soon realized that the only form of communication he would be getting was with a drink in one hand and a blunt in the other. Sick bastards, all of them. And he thanked the heavens on his graduation day nearly a year ago. He had passed with nearly all D's and that was alright, because he liked them. Well, not the letter of course - but his coming out was a completely different story that involved a rather large speaker and the sound effects of him entering the men's room with a guy who really wasn't all that memorable - except for the freaking sharp braces practically etched onto his teeth that had left marks on his dick for weeks. The bible club caught up with him afterwards and tried to convert him for the rest of the school year. 

The car came to a sudden stop, and his head nearly crashed into the seat in front of him due to the unexpected momentum. "You know, there is precious and alive cargo back here!" He complained loudly, the consumptions grin that followed afterwards was most unappreciated. "If you damaged any of my albums I will cut you." 

"Shut your trap and get out of my car, the trunks unlocked - grab your stuff and go." Louis scrambled his way out of the car after the murderous look the driver had thrown at him. He looked like the type of guy whom his sixth wife had just left him for a crocodile anyways. 

His hands gripped around his dark suitcases, and it was only now that he realized that he had never bothered to look at where he was dropped off anyways. He was expecting some kind of bleak boarding school where everyone played with rocks for fun and crafted shivs in which they stored beneath their bed, waiting for their next victim. But when his eyes glanced up at the sleek black gates that masked tremendous structures and chiming music inside - his heart stopped. 

"A circus," he laughed, "a fucking circus." Breathing out heavily, the mountainous steel bars felt closer and closer to himself even though he had not moved an inch. It was as though he was seeing something he had always knew existed for the first time. He had, of course, attended many in his lifetime, but that was ages ago. Ages of this seemingly non-existent memory that was strategically placed before his eyes again. 

Gravel crunched beneath nearing steps and before he knew it the figure of his driver was stood beside him. 

"This must be some kind of joke... I... I committed a crime. People who do that kind of thing don't go to places like this, right? Right!?" Louis spoke frantically, not understanding the situation in the slightest. 

"My instructions merely informed me that I was to take you to this address. You're here for nine months so you better get used to it," the man reached his hands into his pockets and pulled out an all too familiar item. 

"Handcuffs," Louis' mouth formed the words slowly - in shock or disgust, he didn't know. 

"I've gotta see you to the front gate, make sure you don't leave and all that," he spoke gruffly, holding out the objects in front of Louis waiting for his compliance. "If not the ride, then at least make this part easy." 

"Whatever," Louis shrugged and decided not to make any remarks about the potential rape scenario. He could run, at least - kind of. Louis thought if this was a rock concert and not some god-awful community service expedition then he was totally down to mosh. "Do you like rock music?" He decided to randomly ask as his driver fished out keys from his other pocket in order to seal the lock. 

"No." 

"Metal?" 

"No." 

"Emo?" 

"No." 

"Pop?" 

"No." 

"Oh you must be all up in that gangster rap huh?" Louis laughed at this, not being able to picture such a sight. 

"No, actually. Now can you stop squirming?" 

Louis relaxed his arms. "What kind of stuff do you listen to anyways?" 

"Country," and without a seconds notice, Louis' arms shot to his sides defensively. 

"D-don't touch me," His eyes opened in fright as he feigned shock. "I could almost handle you being a molester... but this... and to think I thought we had something going!" 

The elder let out a sigh of exasperation, "goddamn kids," he breathed and grabbed the others arms and forcibly twisted the key quickly, ignoring the shorters cry of pain. "Now let's move along, I don't have all day." 

"Yes sir," Louis mocked under his breath and sped his pace up a little faster - the man before him carrying all of his belongings of course. If he sees a single crease in a single comic he will flip his shit. He worked so hard at getting his parents to pay for those. 

When they reached the gates Louis' breath caught in his throat. Although it was kind of due to the fact that this was the most exercise he's gotten in years, it was primarily the general largeness of how this place looked up close. In the distance he couldn't help but take note of how pristine and well-defined a circus like this looked, a circus he hadn't even heard of to be exact. From where he was standing, he could only view the tops of various attractions much to his displeasure - such as the massive ferris wheel towards the left... or the life endangering roller coaster on the right. 

"Sorry, we're closed." A woman's voice called out monotonically, "come back tonight if you want to see the show." 

Louis stood up straighter as he glanced at the glass window she was perched against, her sneakers muddying the desk and a book that stole her attention perched upon her lap. 

"No, actually we're here for-" the woman looked up at the man beside him and squinted her eyes cautiously. 

"We're not due for another inspection in three weeks, get lost. Everythings up to code anyways." And with that she went back to reading. 

"Ma'am I'm supposed to deliver him." A finger was jabbed in Louis' direction causing him to tentatively take a few steps back. Sharp pangs flooded his wrists, which is apparently what you get when someone put handcuffs on you a little too fast, he presumed, not wanting to make the same mistake again. 

"What the hell are you on about," she glanced up angrily, mouth opening in preparation for another retort but closed when her eyes landed on Louis. "Oooh the live bait," she grinned, plopping her feet back down and reaching over to press the button to open the gates. "Sorry for the confusion, right this way," she yelled out to them as they took a step forwards. "Wait - hold on!" We stopped walking. "You there -" she pointed to the person beside me, "just leave his stuff with me, I'll take it to where it needs to go. And you," she looked at me. "Find Jinx, she'll teach you how to stay alive," laughter was heard throughout the distance as Louis turned back around, she was way different from all the other girls back home. Kind of weird too, but a pleasant kind of weird. 

"Well I guess this is where I leave you then, think you can find yourself around alright?" No, but Louis could manage. He glanced up at the driver whose name was never really important and slowly nodded. "Well," the elder sighed, "that's good." And Louis watched in boredom as the other began to walk away until an idea sprung into his head. 

"Waaaiiitttt!" He called out, smirking profusely, watching the man stop in his footsteps and look at him speculatively. "Aren't cha gonna give me a goodbye hug?" He raised his brows dramatically, smirking at the confused look that was shot back at him. 

"Wasn't really planning on it," Louis heard the faint grumble of reply causing his grin to spread to a quite unhealthy length. And as the man's arms began to tentatively open for the most awkward fucking hug of the year, Louis let out a gallant laugh. 

"I will miss you soooo much," Louis cooed, and as they were just about to meet, Louis swiftly ducked down and embraced the suitcases that were still firmly grasped in the driver's hands. "My precious babies, being carried around like - like garbage!" He cried out dramatically, "if anyone but me decides to shove their hands inside you then bite them off." Louis had prepared quite a big speech on the spot but was suddenly jerked away, looking up to find a set of angry looking eyes. 

"If it was me then you would be staying here for years, not months. Immature brat. And these," he gestured towards Louis' suitcases then directed his thumb towards the front desk, where the mysterious girl from before was still sat, "will be going to her." And with that, he began to walk away. 

"Love you, bye!" Louis shouted, not receiving a reply in return, but that was only to be expected. "Now I wonder where - fuckkkkkk." 

Louis groaned as the pain in his wrists snapped him back to reality. He still had his handcuffs on, and he bet his money that his driver had known the entire time. Most times he truly regretted his one track state of mind. 

Hobbling forwards, he decided to find that woman, Jinx, was it? That had been mentioned to him prior. Perhaps she could fix his little predicament. 

Louis didn't know what he expected really of a place like this, but in his very limited amount of knowledge on circus', he would at least expect some form of sign of human activity, right? But instead of bustling workers preparing for the next show Louis was instead met with an empty wasteland complete with the occasional garbage floating amongst the wind. "This would make a pretty decent shot," he mumbled, his eyes eating everything up like candy. And before he knew it, his hands were practically itching to get ahold of a camera. He hadn't been able to capture images of anything after the night they had confiscated his old one. 

Louis' features darkened as he thought about this further, succumbing back into his old tendencies much to his disapproval. Closing his eyes, he remembered what his doctor had told him during their sessions. 

_"If anything upsets you Louis, you know what to do right?"_

_ "Yes sir."  _

_ "Could you say it back to me another time so I know you're listening?"  _

_ "When I get angry, all I have to do is list everyone who loves me three times and then I'll feel better again. Because why I'm angry isn't what's most important, it's only about suppressing what was never there in the first place."  _

_ "Very good Louis, job well done. You're always safe here in these sessions, you know that right?"  _

_ "Yes sir."  _

_ "No one can ever hurt you here - no one at all."  _

His eyes opened once more as the shutter of steel traced throughout the wind. He followed this noise in hopes of actually finding someone that could help him. "Hello?" Louis called out, in the hopes that someone would hear him, "is anyone there, I could really use your help!" 

Silence. 

Sighing, he walked forwards, the twist of empty shops clouding his senses. The shuffling he had heard previously grew louder, and he became aggravated that yes, there was indeed a person there - yet no one had bothered to answer him. 

"Excuse me -" he started as he turned yet another corner, and that's when he saw her. It was an elderly woman who appeared to be setting up what looks to be a small gift shop, trinkets dancing against the edges of her wooden counter. Her skin hung against her cheeks and hair frayed atop her small head. She was currently humming a small tune to herself. 

"Hello?" Louis questioned as he got closer to her establishment - "My name's Louis and I was wondering if you could direct me towards-"

She was shuffling what appeared to be papers when her body swerved around suddenly from the pull of his voice. "Who are you?" She hissed in annoyance. 

Louis decided to ignore her tone of voice, "Louis ma'am and I-" 

"I don't know anyone by the name of Louis," she bit back, cutting him off rudely. 

"It's probably because it's my first d-" 

"The show doesn't start until ten - get lost!" 

Calming himself swiftly, Louis breathed evenly and shakingly spoke through the anger that was slowly coursing throughout his veins, "if you would let me speak for a few moments out of what to appears to be your busy schedule then you would perhaps know that I am not a customer but an employee for nine months - nine months of getting to know each other quite well." He falsely smiled, looking up at her as something in her eyes finally clicked. 

Snapping her fingers, she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Y-you! You're the convict!" 

Narrowing his eyes, he nodded stiffly. "I'm looking for someone - could you help me just-" 

"Shhh!" She whispered feverishly, "if anyone asks, we did not speak to each other - you don't know me and I don't know you. I'm not supposed to be seen with you," she raked her long nails throughout her head while making shooing motions at him. 

"What are you talking about..." He raised his brows as he eyed her nametag, "Delphine," he chuckled. "I promise I won't tell anyone I met a," he raised his voice loudly as he guestured amongst the empty expance, "Deeeellllphhinee."

Her mouth hung open and the look on her face almost made him feel guilty. "Are you insane? G-get out of here!" And with that, she closed the shutters of her shop, cutting him off from the only source of human communication in perhaps this entire place. 

"Damn," Louis looked down in defeat, flipping the shop off before wandering forwards - and it wasn't before long that he felt the aching paranoia of people avoiding him purposefully as if this was some kind of sick joke. He means, at this point he's almost desperate enough as to gnaw his wrists off if that meant release from the pain he was gritting his teeth over. 

Kicking a few rocks with his worn-down converse, he began to think a lot about why he was here in the first place. Louis always knew the court would sentence him somehow, but not to a place like this. Never to some run-down and slightly eerie circus that for some reason housed juvenile delinquents such as himself... or maybe they were just severely understaffed. But how someone had come into contact with his case and had requested his service, he did not know in the slightest. 

He suddenly bit his lip hard as his forehead suddenly itched, causing him to ridiculously fight the urge. "Oh for fucks sake," he breathed, "Jesus if you're out there please help me," he prayed silently, not being very religious in the first place - but still. It was the thought that counts. 

When the spot on his forehead became out of hand, he decided to lift his cuffed hands up higher in order to swipe his face across his right arm but that was to no use, and he ended up looking like an idiot in the process - luckily there was no one who could have seen him. 

It was only when he tilted his head upwards did he see it. 

It was mountainous, the structure. The flowing tapestry that slunk upwards as if it could touch past clouds. And perhaps calling it otherworldly would be considered quite inaccurate in a critic's eye but that was quite honestly all Louis could think of. It was like his senses had been ruptured his entire life and what was before him began to slowly amend the pieces. 

"Mom, Dad, Phoebe, Daisy..." He began to haltingly list the names of his family to calm his quaking nerves. Because what he saw was beautiful, and for a reason unknown that made him desperate and nervous - as if once you tore your heart away for a second it would disappear forever and he would live his life knowing that he's seen better, but it was so fleeting that he would hardly remember what it looked like. 

The red and white stripes were faded from years of endless use and care. His lips trembled as he drew closer, desperately wanting to trace his fingers along each seam, each fray of fabric and to capture it in all its glory in a delicate photograph. He must be going insane. 

His feet stopped walking once he was mere inches from the structure, and he could understand why it had taken him so long to reach it - something so precious had to be pretty close to the end of the fairground, it was only reasonable. 

Cursing, he wiggled the ends of his fingers in frustration, still not being able to move much of anything due to the metal wrapped around them. He knew he still had to find Jinx, wherever she may be, whoever she may be. He longed to find her, for he would finally be able to explore on his own, well, he was kind of doing that right now - and he mostly blamed the poor service here. Louis leaned on his side as he muttered to himself, "someone must have known I was arriving today." 

A crash suddenly erupted inside the tent causing Louis to stumble back a few feet - catching himself. His heart beat fast inside his chest as he carefully decided to pull back the fabric of the tent using his feet - he was quite skilled, he knew - and managed to wedge his shoulder in far enough so his eyes were allowed to grace the darkness of the interior. Louis soon adjusted to the lack of light and he breathed heavily as he peered at the movement that occurred inside. 

He could faintly see a dark shadow in the distance, doing god knows what. The pull of a chain was heard and what appears to be massive boxes were pushed out of the way roughly. Louis' face scrunched in confusion, and just as he was about to call out to this unknown person a hand shoved him back roughly, another hand pressed tightly against his mouth to stifle his screams. 

Louis was shoved into the gravel roughly, rocks scraping at his cheeks painfully causing him to wince as crimson liquid pooled out of the cut, dribbling past his lips - a few droplets hitting the dry ground. 

Glancing upwards, he was met with the harsh rays of the sun - causing him to blink rapidly as he hastily readied himself for a fight with whoever thought that they could just fling Louis around as though he was nothing. 

Clearing his throat, he ignored the sting of his open flesh and narrowed his eyes at the man before him. The light danced upon the others pale face, his blond hair flopping in front of piercing blue eyes that looked down at him shakily. Louis noticed a jagged scar that ran past the others left eye and stopped just before the corner of his lips, which is a shame because Louis thought that the other might have looked quite attractive without this slight deformity - although, what was he thinking? This guy just tried to bust up Louis' face moments prior, and his anger returned. 

Arms reached under his shoulders and swiftly brought him back onto his feet, brushing the dirt off of his shirt quietly much to Louis' confusion.

 "What the hell was that for?" He fumed, watching as the blond shook his head tensely as he pointed towards the tent with his dirt-embedded fingers.

'No,' he mouthed as Louis looked at him peculiarly. 

"What, am I not supposed to go in there or something? You could have said so in the first place, you know, instead of all this," he pointed at his face. He tried to brush off some of the blood using his shoulder but that only resulted in more spewing out all over the place and an awful stain covering his Metallica t-shirt. 

'Sorry,' the others lips parted again. 

"So, are you gonna tell me who the fuck you are or are you just going to keep quiet, I mean I've been looking for someone who will have an actual conversation with me all day and just -" Louis stopped as the boy with the blue eyes gripped onto him tightly as if to get his attention. 

Taking a step back, Louis watched as the other kept pointing at his mouth urgently - rubbing his head awkwardly, Louis cleared his throat. "Look, I'm flattered really, but you'll at least have to take me on a date or two before I stick anything... there." And as the blond's' eyes widened dramatically while his cheeks tinted a faint red Louis couldn't help but double over with laughter. "Listen, I'm just fucking with you," he snickered as pale hands shoved him playfully. 

'You're a dick,' the blond lipped, but Louis glanced down just in time to see his fingers conforming to his words. Sign language. And that's when everything clicked. 

"Oh... you... you can't talk?" Louis' question was answered with the nod of a head. "God damn it the first non-weird guy I find can't even freaking speak! What are the odds," he complained, watching as the other winced. "Ah, sorry about that - it's just I haven't had an actual person make me feel like, well, a person... since, well -" He gestured towards his handcuffs. "I'm Louis by the way," and he watched as the blonds eyes widened in recognition. "Yeah I'm used to that kind of response, what's up with people anyways? They act like they're scared of me or something."   

The other shrugged his shoulders absentmindedly, but Louis could detect there was something more in the way he adverted Louis' gaze as though it was the plague. 

"Look," Louis started after the silence became unbearable - "I need to find someone, someone by the name of Jinx - do you know her?" 

The blonde looked up at him, his face rocking back and forth gradually. He did. 

"Good well can you take me to her?" 

'Yes,' 

Louis smiled - enjoying his new form of company. And as the other slowly guided his aching body across the fairground, he couldn't help but appreciate this new form of serenity. This felt far better than getting drunk off his ass with a bunch of people who loved you as much as your dollars worth. Maybe, Louis thought, just maybe he could make this work. Only until a man with brown hair and chocolate eyes stepped in front of their path. 

"Niall, who's this?" The unknown man feverishly called out to the blond, who Louis presumed is named Niall. He wouldn't have known otherwise. 

Niall's fingers moved rapidly along with his mouth, Louis couldn't read sign-language, nor understand what Niall was trying to say to the other, so he stopped looking and instead watched as the muscular guy in front of them glanced at Louis furiously, causing him to shiver.

"Oh, so this is the infamous Louis -" this for once, was directed at him - and he scowled up at him. 

"Yeah, you know my name - so what? Who the hell are you?" 

"I'm -" the other paused, his eyes fixated on the way Niall's hands gripped Louis' right arm tightly. "I'm Liam," he said defeatedly, looking up at the blond almost pleadingly. 

"Well it was nice meeting you Liam," Louis said mockingly, pulling Niall along with him, "but we best get on our way." 

"No, he won't be going anywhere with you," Liam darkly replied, "I don't trust anyone who looks as if they had just crawled from the sewers," he gestured towards Louis' blue hair, busted lip and blood stained band shirt. 

"God damn it, and to think I was going for the jack-me-off-zombie look, not fuck-the-sewer-rat. Fucking labels, and all that, 'as seen on tv,' bullshit." 

Liam blinked, "Excuse me but drugs aren't allowed on the premise-" 

Louis interrupted him, "between you and me, I'm not allowed them anymore after the cops found what I did to Steve," he wiggled what he could of his fingers earily, "if my dick didn't make him scream then that knife surely did," he laughed manically as Liam suddenly pushed past Niall and gripped his shirt tightly; "woah man it's just a joke," he said in defense as Liam raised a fist. Swallowing some of his spit, he said meekly, "I didn't actually need a punchline." 

Everything went dark when a fist connected with his face over, and over, and over again. He didn't even have time to think about all of his loved ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter = finished!  
> So since I've recently made this account, and considering this is a horror fanfic, I feel like I should get to know you guys a little more.
> 
> In the comments below post your favorite Horror movies or something that completely makes you terrified in general, I'd love some feedback to incorporate some of your ideas into this. 
> 
> Until next time, fellow directoners. 
> 
> And remember, the circus opens at 10 PM sharp. You don't want to miss it.

**Author's Note:**

> New fic! This has been such a process to write, and long overdue considering coming up with this project alone has taken a year of endless planning. I do hope you enjoyed the Prologue although it is rather short, first chapter should be up within the week - trying to keep a regular schedule.  
> I'd like to dedicate this entire work to CosmahCosmo - Give her lots of love dear readers because without her this most likely wouldn't be here today... okay it wouldn't. We all need encouragement sometimes.  
> Expect much longer chapters, and remember... the circus opens at 10 pm sharp. You don't want to miss it.


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